Page 44 of The Billionaire in Her Bed

Chapter Eleven

“To what do I owe this pleasure?” Ginny dropped her pocketbook on the floor, slipped off her coat, and slid into a chair opposite Eli at Dean & Deluca, a steaming cup in her hand that he knew would contain her beverage of choice—a half-sweet, non-fat caramel macchiato. “You haven’t set foot on the island for weeks. I was starting to think I’d never see you again.”

He hadn’t been counting the days, but now that he thought about it, Ginny was right. Thanks to email, texting, and Skype, he’d been able to keep tabs on things without having to return to Manhattan since moving into Candy Court. And more surprising, he hadn’t missed it one damn bit.

He smiled and sipped his way-less-complicated dark roast, black, with his usual two shots of espresso. “Would you believe me if I said I missed you?”

“No.” She blew across the top of her cup, making waves in the thick foam.

He put a hand over his heart. “You wound me.”

“You’ll get over it.” She licked some of the foam from the rim of her cup and drank. “Your absence hasn’t gone unnoticed. People have been talking.”

“I didn’t expect it would.” He set his half-empty cup down on the table with a hollowthunk. “What people?”

“Simon. I don’t think he’s buying my story about the Tibetan monastery.”

He leaned back in his chair, stretching his legs out and crossing them at the ankles. “You seriously went with that?”

“It seemed like a good idea at the time. Hard to prove one way or the other.” She patted her silvery gray hair and loosened a button on her cardigan. “Then again, I didn’t think you’d fall off the face of the earth for two months.”

“Last time I checked, Brooklyn’s still on terra firma. And it’s not like we haven’t been in constant contact.”

“What’s so important you broke your self-imposed exile and dragged me out of the office in the middle of the workday?” Ginny asked, clearly anxious to get to the purpose of their tête-á-tête. “Do you have a lead on our mole?”

“I was going to ask you that same question.”

She shook her head. “Nothing yet. Mr. Spock should be sending me a status report any day now.”

Eli raised a brow. “Mr. Spock? What is this, Star Trek?”

“Do you read my emails?” She clucked her tongue at him. “Gordon Spock. He’s the private investigator who’s been following Dupree.”

“Yes, I read your emails,” Eli insisted. “I’ve been a little busy lately.”

“Busy? Or preoccupied?”

“Busy.” He repeated the half-truth. Ginny didn’t need to know how much time he’d been spending with Brooke. Or what they’d been doing. “With the Candy Court project.”

“I’ve seen the architect’s renderings.” She blew into her coffee again and took another tentative sip. “Very ambitious.”

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” He bent down and picked up a long cardboard tube from under the table. “There’s been a change of plan.”

He popped the cap off one end of the tube and slid out a rolled-up sheet of paper. He moved his coffee to one side and spread it out on the table.

Ginny fished her reading glasses out of her purse, perched them on her nose and squinted down at the drawing. “What’s this?”

“Like I said, a change of plan.”

The furrows in her forehead deepened as she studied the sketch in more detail, her finger tracing the clean lines. “Are you sure about this?”

“As sure as I’ve ever been about anything.” The words left his mouth freely, easily. He was sure. Damn sure. He’d spent the week and change since the wedding working with the architect on the new drawings. He’d thought Eli was nuts, too, scrapping everything and starting from scratch on a design that wouldn’t be anywhere near as profitable as the one they’d first agreed on. But for the first time in his business career, this deal wasn’t about profit. It was about people.

Or, more accurately, one particular person.

“What gives?” Ginny stared at him like he had three heads and a tail. Maybe a set of wings, too. “Where’s the real Eli Ward and what have you done with him?”

“He’s sitting right in front of you, wondering if you’ve gone completely insane or you’re suffering from caffeine overdose.”